Groups are not parties, but looser coalitions. Groups are
strictly forbidden to campaign during the European elections since
it is exclusive responsibility of Europarties. Each Group
is assumed to have a set of core principles, and Groups that cannot
demonstrate this may be disbanded (see below).

Requirements and
privileges

Working together in Groups benefits European political parties:
for example, the European Free Alliance (5 MEPs
in 6th Parliament) and the European Greens (37 MEPs in 6th
Parliament) have more power by working together in the European Greens–European Free Alliance
Group (42 MEPs) than they would have as stand-alone parties,
bringing their causes much-needed additional support. Further
incentives for co-operating in Groups include financial subsidies
from the Parliament and guaranteed seats on committees[2]
which are not afforded to Independent MEPs.

For a Group to be formally recognised in the Parliament, it must
fulfil the conditions laid down in the relevant European Parliament
Rule of Procedure.[3][4]
That Rule lays down the minimum criteria a Group must meet to
qualify as a Group. Provided those criteria are met, MEPs can
theoretically create any Group they like. This was put to the test
when MEPs attempted to create a far-right Group called "Identity, Tradition,
Sovereignty" (ITS). This generated controversy and there were
concerns about public funds going towards a far-right Group.[2]
Attempts to block the formation of ITS were unsuccessful, but ITS
were blocked from leading positions on committees, a privilege
usually afforded to all Groups.[5]

These events spurred MEPs, mainly from the largest two groups,
to approve a rise in the threshold for groups for the 2009-2014
term to 25 from seven states. This was opposed by many MEPs,
including the Liberal group, for being detrimental to democracy and
the two other smallest groups in Parliament, whilst supporters
argued that the change made it harder for the far right to claim EU
funds whilst still enabling 2.5% of MEPs to form a group.[6]

Each Group appoints a leader, referred to as a "president",
"co-ordinator" or "chair", who decides which way the Group should
vote in Parliament. The chairs of each Group meet in the Conference of Presidents to decide what
issues will be dealt with at the plenary session of the European
Parliament. Groups can table motions for resolutions and table
amendments to reports.

Composition of the
7th European Parliament

This is a summary of the composition of the 7th European
Parliament, whose mandate runs from 2009 to 2014.

The Eurosceptic IND/DEM and UEN suffered heavy losses in the election. On their
own they no longer had enough MEPs to form a separate group. MEPs
from these parties formed Europe of Freedom and
Democracy on 1 July 2009.

Party
relations

The Parliament does not form a government in the traditional
sense and its politics have developed over consensual rather than
adversarial lines.[9]
No single group has ever held a majority in Parliament.[10]
The two largest Groups are the European
People's Party group (EPP) and the Socialist Group (PES),
which are based around the European political parties
called the European People's Party (also
called EPP) and the Party of European
Socialists (also called PES). These two Groups have dominated
the Parliament for much of its life, continuously holding between
50 and 70 percent of the seats together. The Socialists were the
largest single party up to 1999, when they were overtaken by the
People's Party.[11][12]

In 1987 the Single European Act came into force
and, under the new cooperation procedure, the
Parliament needed to obtain large majorities to make the most
impact. So the People's Party and the Socialists came to an
agreement to cooperate in the Parliament.[13]
This agreement became known as the "grand coalition" and, aside
from a break in the fifth Parliament,[14]
it has dominated the Parliament for much of its life, regardless of
necessity. The grand coalition is visible in the agreement between
the two Groups to divide the five-year term of the President of the
European Parliament equally between them, with a Socialist
President for half the term and a People's President for the other
half, regardless of the actual election result.[9]

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Position of the liberals

Liberal
Group leader Graham Watson MEP has denounced the grand
coalition and has described the aim for the liberals in the
following terms: "the challenge for us is not only to break the
inherent conservatism of the grand coalition, where a failing EPP
Europe is propped up by a Socialist poodle pinching the crumbs from
the table" also expressing a desire to ensure that the posts of Commission
President, Council President, Parliament
President and High Representative are not carved up in
an agreement between the two groups to the exclusion of third
parties.[15]

During the fifth term it was the liberals who were involved in a
break in the grand coalition when they entered into an alliance
with the People's Party, to the exclusion of the Socialists.[14]
This was reflected in the Presidency of the Parliament with the
terms being shared between the EPP and the ELDR, rather than the
EPP and PES[16] as
before. In the following term the liberals grew to 88 seats
becoming the "Alliance of
Liberals and Democrats for Europe". This was the largest number
of seats held by any third party in Parliament.[15]

Break in
the coalition

However liberal intervention has not been the only cause for a
break in the grand coalition. There have been specific occasions
where real left-right party politics have emerged, notably the resignation of
the Santer Commission. When the initial allegations against the
Commission Budget emerged, they were directed primarily against the
Socialists Édith Cresson and Manuel Marín.
PES supported the Commission and saw the issue as an attempt by the
EPP to discredit their party ahead of the 1999 elections. EPP
disagreed. Whilst the Parliament was considering rejecting the Community budget, PresidentJacques Santer
argued that a "No" vote would be tantamount to a vote of no confidence. PES leader Pauline Green MEP
attempted a vote of confidence and the EPP put forward counter
motions. During this period the two Groups adopted a government-opposition dynamic, with PES
supporting the executive and EPP renouncing its previous coalition
support and voting it down.[17]

In 2004 there was another notable break in the grand coalition.
It occurred over the nomination of Rocco Buttiglione as European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and
Security. The People's Party supported the appointment of
Buttiglione, while the Socialists, who were also critics of the
President-designate Jose Manuel
Barroso, led the parties seeking Buttiglione's removal
following his rejection (the first in EU history) by a Parliamentary
committee. Barroso initially stood by his team and offered only
small concessions, which were rejected by the Socialists. The
People's Party demanded that if Buttiglione were to go, then a
Socialist commissioner must also be sacrificed for balance.[18]
In the end, Italy withdrew Buttiglione and put forward Franco Frattini
instead. Frattini won the support of the Socialists and the Barroso
Commission was finally approved, albeit behind schedule.[19]
Politicisation such as the above has been increasing, with Simon
Hix of the London School of Economics
noting in 2007 that[20]

“

Our work also shows that
politics in the European Parliament is becoming increasingly based
around party and ideology. Voting is increasingly split along
left-right lines, and the cohesion of the party groups has risen
dramatically, particularly in the fourth and fifth parliaments. So
there are likely to be policy implications here too.

”

Academic
analyses

The political groups of the European Parliament have been around
in one form or another since September 1952 and the first meeting
of the Parliament's predecessor, the Common Assembly. The groups
are coalitions of MEPs and the Europarties and national
parties that those MEPs belong to. The groups have coalesced
into representations of the dominant schools of European political
thought and are the primary actors in the Parliament.

Some of the groups (such as PES) have become homogeneous units
coterminous with their Europarty, some (such as IND/DEM) have not.
But they are still coalitions, not parties in their own right, and
do not issue manifestos
of their own. It may therefore be difficult to discern how the
groups intend to vote without first inspecting the party platforms
of their constituent parties, and then with limited certainty.

Additionally, national media focus on the MEPs/national parties
of their own member state, neglecting the group's activities and
poorly understanding their structure or even existence.
Transnational media coverage of the groups per se is
limited to those organs such as the Parliament itself, or those
news media (e.g. EUObserver or theParliament.com) that specialise in the
Parliament. These organs cover the groups in detail but with little
overarching analysis. So although such organs make it easy to find
out how a group acted on a specific vote, they provide little
information on the voting patterns of a specific group.

As a result, the only bodies providing analysis of the voting
patterns and Weltanschauung of the groups are
academics.

Overview

The first three Groups were established in the earliest days of
the Parliament. They were the "Socialist Group" (which eventually
became Party of European
Socialists, PES), the "Christian Democrat Group" (later EPP-ED) and
the "Liberals and Allies Group" (later ALDE).

The 1979 first direct
election established further groups and the establishment of
European political parties such as the European People's Party.[23]
A full breakdown of Groups by complexion and timeline is given
below.

Conservatives/Christian
democrats

In European politics, the centre-right is usually occupied by Christian
democrats or by conservatives. The two strands have had a
tangled relationship in the Parliament. The first Christian
Democrat Group was founded in 1953[24]
and stayed with that name for a quarter of a century. Meanwhile
outside the Parliament, local Christian-democratic parties were
organising and eventually formed the pan-national political party
called the "European People's Party" on 29
April 1976. Since all the Christian-democratic MEPs were members of
this pan-European party, the Group's name was changed to indicate
this: first to the "Christian-Democratic Group (Group of the
European People's Party)"[23][25]
on 14 March 1978,[23]
then to "Group of the European People's Party (Christian
Democrats)"[23][25][26]
on 17 July 1979.[23]
Meanwhile, on 16 January 1973,[22]
the "European Conservative Group"[24]
was formed by the British and Danish Conservative parties, which
had recently joined the EEC. This group was renamed to the
"European Democratic Group"[21][27]
on 17 July 1979.[22]
The EPP Group grew during the '80s, with parties such as the Greek
New Democracy and Spanish Partido Popular that were not
explicitly Christian Democratic joining the Group. In contrast, the
number of MEPs in the European Democratic Group fell over the same
period and it eventually merged with the EPP Group on 1 May
1992.[22]
This consolidation of the centre-right continued during the 1990s,
with MEPs from the highly heterogeneous centre-right Italian Forza Italia
eventually settling down into the EPP Group on 15 June 1998,[28]
after spending nearly a year (19 July 1994[28]
to 6 July 1995[28])
in their own Group, self-referentially called "Forza Europa", and
nearly three years (6 July 1995[28]
to 15 June 1998[28])
in the national-conservative Group
called "Union for Europe". But the Conservatives were growing
restless and on 20 July 1999[24]
the EPP Group was renamed[24]
to the "Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats)
and European Democrats"[29]
in order to identify the Conservative parties within the Group. The
Group remains under that name to this day. Although for the sake of
brevity, it's usually called "People's" or "EPP-ED".

Socialists

In Western Europe, socialist/social democratic parties have been
the dominant centre-left force since the dawn of modern
European cooperation. The Socialist Group was one of the first
Groups to be founded when it was created on 23 June 1953[33]
in the European Parliament's predecessor, the Common Assembly of
the European Coal and Steel
Community, and continued through the creation of the appointed
Parliament in 1958 and the elected Parliament in 1979. Meanwhile,
the national parties making up the Group were also organising
themselves on a European level outside the Parliament,
with the parties creating the "Confederation of Socialist Parties
of the European Community" in 1974[24][34][35]
and its successor, the "Party of European
Socialists", in 1992.[34][35]
As a result, the Group (which had kept its "Socialist Group" name
all along) was renamed to the "Group of the Party of European
Socialists" on 21 April 1993[33]
and it became difficult to distinguish between PES (the group) and
PES (the party). The Group reverted to (approximately) its former
name of the "Socialist Group in the European Parliament"[29]
on 20 July 2004[33]
and was given a different logo, making it easier to distinguish the
Group from the party. Despite all this, the Group is still
universally referred to as "PES", notwithstanding the 2009 name
change.

Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
in the European Parliament

23 June 2009

present

Liberals/centrists

In European politics, liberalism tends to be associated with classical
liberalism, which advocates limited government intervention in
society in general. However, the Liberal Group contains diverse
parties. It has also been home to parties such as the GaullistUnion for the New Republic
and the centre-right Portuguese
Social-Democrats that were not explicitly liberal, but who were
not aligned with either the Socialist or the Christian Democratic
Groups. The Liberal Group was founded on 23 June 1953[39]
under the name of the "Group of Liberals and Allies".[39]
As the Parliament grew, it changed its name to the "Liberal and
Democratic Group"[24][39]
(1976[39]),
then to the "Liberal and Democratic Reformist Group"[40]
(13 December 1985[39]),
then to the "Group of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform
Party"[24][26][39]
(19 July 1994[39])
before settling on its present name of the "Group of the Alliance
of Liberals and Democrats for Europe"[39]
on 20 July 2004,[39]
when the Group was joined by the centrist and social-liberal
parties that formed the European Democratic
Party.

Greens/regionalists

In European politics, there has been a coalition between the Greens and the
stateless nationalists or regionalists (who also support devolution). In 1984[44]
Greens and regionalists gathered into the "Rainbow Group",[21]
a coalition of Greens, regionalists and other parties of the left
unaffiliated with any of the international organizations. In
1989[21][44]
Rainbow split. The Greens went off to form the "Green Group",
whilst the regionalists stayed in Rainbow. Rainbow collapsed in
1994[44]
and its members joined the "European Radical Alliance" under the
centre-left French Left Radical
Party. The Greens and regionalists stayed separate until
1999,[24][44]
when they reunited under the "Greens/European Free Alliance"[24][29]
banner.

Rainbow Group: Federation of the Green Alternative European
Left, Agalev-Ecolo, the Danish People's Movement against Membership
of the European Community and the European Free Alliance in the
European Parliament[45][54]

Communists

The first communist group in the European Parliament
was the "Communist and Allies Group"[21]
founded on 16 October 1973.[58]
It stayed together until 25 July 1989[58]
when it split into two groups, the "Left Unity" Group[21]
with 14[21]
members and the "Group of the European United Left"[58]
(EUL) with 28[21]
members. EUL collapsed in January 1993[59]
after the Italian Communist Party changed
its name to Democratic Party of the
Left and its MEPs joined the Socialist Group, leaving Left
Unity as the only leftist group before the 1994 elections.[59]
The name was resurrected immediately after the elections when the
"Confederal Group of the European United Left"[58]
was formed on 19 July 1994.[58]
On 6 January 1995,[58]
when parties from Sweden and
Finland joined, the Group
was further renamed to the "Confederal Group of the European United
Left–Nordic Green Left" and it has stayed that way to the
present.

Nationalists

In European politics, a grouping of nationalist has thus far found it difficult
to cohere in a continuous Group. The first nationalist Group was
founded by the French National Front and the Italian Social
Movement in 1984[21][64]
under the name of the "Group of the European Right",[21][64]
and it lasted until 1989.[64][65]
Its successor, the "Technical Group of the European Right",[64][66]
existed from 1989[64]
to 1994.[64]
There was then a gap of thirteen years until "Identity, Tradition,
Sovereignty"[67]
was founded on 15 January 2007,[67]
which lasted for nearly eleven months until it fell apart on 14
November 2007 due to in-fighting.[68]

In January 2008, leaders of nationalist parties across four
countries announced another attempt at a pan-European nationalist
European political party,
provisionally called the "European Patriotic Party".[69][70]
Should they be successful and elect sufficient MEPs under that
banner, then another nationalist Group may be formed.

In October 2009, a loose grouping of nationalists under the
label "Alliance of European Nationalist Movements" was confirmed
with membership including Hungary's Jobbik, and the United
Kingdom's British National Party [71].
Under the group membership rules in place at the European
Parliament the AENM has no formal status.

Eurosceptics

The specifically European school of political thought that
states that the competences of the European Union should be reduced
or prevented from expanding further, is represented in the European
Parliament by the eurosceptics. The first Eurosceptic
group in the European Parliament was founded on 19 July 1994.[74]
It was called the "European Nations Group"[74]
and it lasted until 10 November 1996.[74]
Its successor was the "Group of Independents for a Europe of
Nations",[26][75]
founded on 20 December 1996.[74]
Following the 1999 election, the
Group was reorganised into the "Group for a Europe of Democracies
and Diversities"[24][29]
on 20 July 1999,[74]
and similarly reorganised after the 2004 election into
the "Independence/Democracy Group"[76]
on 20 July 2004.[74]
The IND/DEM Group comprises 22 Members coming from 9 different
countries, as follows: Czech Republic (1), Denmark (1), Greece (1)
, France (3), Ireland (1), The Netherlands (2), Sweden (2), UK (8),
Poland (3). The group's leaders are Nigel Farage (United Kingdom
Independence Party) and Kathy Sinnott (Independent,
Ireland)

Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group in the European
Parliament (TBD)

1 July 2009

present

Heterogeneous

A Group is assumed to have a set of core principles
("affinities" or "complexion") to which the full members are
expected to adhere. This throws up an anomaly: Groups get money and
seats on Committees which Independent members do not get, but the
total amount of Independent members may be greater than the members
of the smaller Groups. In 1979 MEPs got round this by forming a
Technical Group (formally called the "Group for the Technical
Coordination and Defence of Independent Groups and Members",[79]
or "CDI"[80]
for short) as a coalition of parties ranging from centre-left to
far left, which were not aligned with any of the major
international organizations.[81] CDI
lasted until 1984.[44]
On 20 July 1999,[82]
another Technical Group was formed, (formally called the "Technical
Group of Independent Members – mixed group"[83]
or "TGI"[30][82]
for short). Since it contained far-right MEPs and centre-left MEPs,
it could not possibly be depicted as having a common outlook. The
Committee on Constitutional Affairs promptly ruled[84]
that TGI did not have a coherent political complexion, Parliament
upheld (412 to 56 with 36 abstentions) the ruling,[85]
and TGI was promptly disbanded on 13 September 1999,[85]
the first Group to be forcibly dissolved. But it didn't end there:
The ruling was appealed to the European Court
of First Instance[85]
(not the French Court of First Instance,
whose acronym is also, confusingly, "TGI") and the Group was
temporarily resurrected on 1 December 1999[86]
until the Court came to a decision.[86]
On 3 October 2001, President Fontaine announced that the Court of
First Instance had declared against the appeal[87]
and that the disbandment was back in effect from 2 October 2001,
the date of the declaration.[88]
TGI appeared on the list of Political Groups in the European
Parliament for the last time on 4 October 2001.[89]
Since then the requirement that Groups have a coherent political
complexion has been enforced (as ITS later found out), and "mixed"
Groups are not expected to appear again.

Independents

Independent MEPs that are not in a Group are categorised as "Non-Inscrits" (the
French term is universally used, even in English translations).
This null-Group has no Group privileges or funding, and is included
here solely for completion.

^ abcd
"European Union: Power and Policy-Making" second edition, ISBN
0415221641 Published 2001 by Routledge, edited by Jeremy John
Richardson, Chapter 6 "Parliaments and policy-making in the
European Union", esp. page 125, "Table 6.2 Party Groups in the
European Parliament, 1979-2000"

[[Template:FULLPAGENAME: Politics of the European Union|v]] • [[{{TALKPAGENAME:Template:FULLPAGENAME: Politics of the European Union}}|d]] • [{{fullurl:Template:FULLPAGENAME: Politics of the European Union|action=edit}}e]

Groups are not parties, but looser coalitions. Groups are strictly forbidden to campaign during the European elections since it is exclusive responsibility of Europarties. Each Group is assumed to have a set of core principles, and Groups that cannot demonstrate this may be disbanded (see below).

Requirements and privileges

Working together in Groups benefits European political parties: for example, the European Free Alliance (5 MEPs in 6th Parliament) and the European Greens (37 MEPs in 6th Parliament) have more power by working together in the European Greens–European Free Alliance Group (42 MEPs) than they would have as stand-alone parties, bringing their causes much-needed additional support. Further incentives for co-operating in Groups include financial subsidies from the Parliament and guaranteed seats on committees[2] which are not afforded to Independent MEPs.

For a Group to be formally recognised in the Parliament, it must fulfil the conditions laid down in the relevant European Parliament Rule of Procedure.[3][4] That Rule lays down the minimum criteria a Group must meet to qualify as a Group. Provided those criteria are met, MEPs can theoretically create any Group they like. This was put to the test when MEPs attempted to create a far-right Group called "Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty" (ITS). This generated controversy and there were concerns about public funds going towards a far-right Group.[2] Attempts to block the formation of ITS were unsuccessful, but ITS were blocked from leading positions on committees, a privilege usually afforded to all Groups.[5]

These events spurred MEPs, mainly from the largest two groups, to approve a rise in the threshold for groups for the 2009-2014 term to 25 from seven states. This was opposed by many MEPs, including the Liberal group, for being detrimental to democracy and the two other smallest groups in Parliament, whilst supporters argued that the change made it harder for the far right to claim EU funds whilst still enabling 2.5% of MEPs to form a group.[6]

Each Group appoints a leader, referred to as a "president", "co-ordinator" or "chair", who decides which way the Group should vote in Parliament. The chairs of each Group meet in the Conference of Presidents to decide what issues will be dealt with at the plenary session of the European Parliament. Groups can table motions for resolutions and table amendments to reports.

Composition of the 7th European Parliament

This is a summary of the composition of the 7th European Parliament, whose mandate runs from 2009 to 2014.

The Eurosceptic IND/DEM and UEN suffered heavy losses in the election. On their own they no longer had enough MEPs to form a separate group. MEPs from these parties formed Europe of Freedom and Democracy on 1 July 2009.

Party relations

The Parliament does not form a government in the traditional sense and its politics have developed over consensual rather than adversarial lines.[9] No single group has ever held a majority in Parliament.[10] The two largest Groups are the European People's Party group (EPP) and the Socialist Group (PES), which are based around the European political parties called the European People's Party (also called EPP) and the Party of European Socialists (also called PES). These two Groups have dominated the Parliament for much of its life, continuously holding between 50 and 70 percent of the seats together. The Socialists were the largest single party up to 1999, when they were overtaken by the People's Party.[11][12]

In 1987 the Single European Act came into force and, under the new cooperation procedure, the Parliament needed to obtain large majorities to make the most impact. So the People's Party and the Socialists came to an agreement to cooperate in the Parliament.[13] This agreement became known as the "grand coalition" and, aside from a break in the fifth Parliament,[14] it has dominated the Parliament for much of its life, regardless of necessity. The grand coalition is visible in the agreement between the two Groups to divide the five-year term of the President of the European Parliament equally between them, with a Socialist President for half the term and a People's President for the other half, regardless of the actual election result.[9]

Position of the liberals

Liberal Group leader Graham Watson MEP has denounced the grand coalition and has described the aim for the liberals in the following terms: "the challenge for us is not only to break the inherent conservatism of the grand coalition, where a failing EPP Europe is propped up by a Socialist poodle pinching the crumbs from the table" also expressing a desire to ensure that the posts of Commission President, Council President, Parliament President and High Representative are not carved up in an agreement between the two groups to the exclusion of third parties.[15]

During the fifth term it was the liberals who were involved in a break in the grand coalition when they entered into an alliance with the People's Party, to the exclusion of the Socialists.[14] This was reflected in the Presidency of the Parliament with the terms being shared between the EPP and the ELDR, rather than the EPP and PES[16] as before. In the following term the liberals grew to 88 seats becoming the "Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe". This was the largest number of seats held by any third party in Parliament.[15]

Break in the coalition

However liberal intervention has not been the only cause for a break in the grand coalition. There have been specific occasions where real left-right party politics have emerged, notably the resignation of the Santer Commission. When the initial allegations against the Commission Budget emerged, they were directed primarily against the Socialists Édith Cresson and Manuel Marín. PES supported the Commission and saw the issue as an attempt by the EPP to discredit their party ahead of the 1999 elections. EPP disagreed. Whilst the Parliament was considering rejecting the Community budget, PresidentJacques Santer argued that a "No" vote would be tantamount to a vote of no confidence. PES leader Pauline Green MEP attempted a vote of confidence and the EPP put forward counter motions. During this period the two Groups adopted a government-opposition dynamic, with PES supporting the executive and EPP renouncing its previous coalition support and voting it down.[17]

In 2004 there was another notable break in the grand coalition. It occurred over the nomination of Rocco Buttiglione as European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security. The People's Party supported the appointment of Buttiglione, while the Socialists, who were also critics of the President-designate Jose Manuel Barroso, led the parties seeking Buttiglione's removal following his rejection (the first in EU history) by a Parliamentary committee. Barroso initially stood by his team and offered only small concessions, which were rejected by the Socialists. The People's Party demanded that if Buttiglione were to go, then a Socialist commissioner must also be sacrificed for balance.[18] In the end, Italy withdrew Buttiglione and put forward Franco Frattini instead. Frattini won the support of the Socialists and the Barroso Commission was finally approved, albeit behind schedule.[19] Politicisation such as the above has been increasing, with Simon Hix of the London School of Economics noting in 2007 that[20]

“

Our work also shows that politics in the European Parliament is becoming increasingly based around party and ideology. Voting is increasingly split along left-right lines, and the cohesion of the party groups has risen dramatically, particularly in the fourth and fifth parliaments. So there are likely to be policy implications here too.

”

Academic analyses

The political groups of the European Parliament have been around in one form or another since September 1952 and the first meeting of the Parliament's predecessor, the Common Assembly. The groups are coalitions of MEPs and the Europarties and national parties that those MEPs belong to. The groups have coalesced into representations of the dominant schools of European political thought and are the primary actors in the Parliament.

Some of the groups (such as PES) have become homogeneous units coterminous with their Europarty, some (such as IND/DEM) have not. But they are still coalitions, not parties in their own right, and do not issue manifestos of their own. It may therefore be difficult to discern how the groups intend to vote without first inspecting the party platforms of their constituent parties, and then with limited certainty.

Additionally, national media focus on the MEPs/national parties of their own member state, neglecting the group's activities and poorly understanding their structure or even existence. Transnational media coverage of the groups per se is limited to those organs such as the Parliament itself, or those news media (e.g. EUObserver or theParliament.com) that specialise in the Parliament. These organs cover the groups in detail but with little overarching analysis. So although such organs make it easy to find out how a group acted on a specific vote, they provide little information on the voting patterns of a specific group.

As a result, the only bodies providing analysis of the voting patterns and Weltanschauung of the groups are academics.

Overview

The first three Groups were established in the earliest days of the Parliament. They were the "Socialist Group" (which eventually became Party of European Socialists, PES), the "Christian Democrat Group" (later EPP-ED) and the "Liberals and Allies Group" (later ALDE).

The 1979 first direct election established further groups and the establishment of European political parties such as the European People's Party.[23] A full breakdown of Groups by complexion and timeline is given below.

Conservatives/Christian democrats

In European politics, the centre-right is usually occupied by Christian democrats or by conservatives. The two strands have had a tangled relationship in the Parliament. The first Christian Democrat Group was founded in 1953[24] and stayed with that name for a quarter of a century. Meanwhile outside the Parliament, local Christian-democratic parties were organising and eventually formed the pan-national political party called the "European People's Party" on 29 April 1976. Since all the Christian-democratic MEPs were members of this pan-European party, the Group's name was changed to indicate this: first to the "Christian-Democratic Group (Group of the European People's Party)"[23][25] on 14 March 1978,[23] then to "Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats)"[23][25][26] on 17 July 1979.[23] Meanwhile, on 16 January 1973,[22] the "European Conservative Group"[24] was formed by the British and Danish Conservative parties, which had recently joined the EEC. This group was renamed to the "European Democratic Group"[21][27] on 17 July 1979.[22] The EPP Group grew during the '80s, with parties such as the Greek New Democracy and Spanish Partido Popular that were not explicitly Christian Democratic joining the Group. In contrast, the number of MEPs in the European Democratic Group fell over the same period and it eventually merged with the EPP Group on 1 May 1992.[22] This consolidation of the centre-right continued during the 1990s, with MEPs from the highly heterogeneous centre-right Italian Forza Italia eventually settling down into the EPP Group on 15 June 1998,[28] after spending nearly a year (19 July 1994[28] to 6 July 1995[28]) in their own Group, self-referentially called "Forza Europa", and nearly three years (6 July 1995[28] to 15 June 1998[28]) in the national-conservative Group called "Union for Europe". But the Conservatives were growing restless and on 20 July 1999[24] the EPP Group was renamed[24] to the "Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats"[29] in order to identify the Conservative parties within the Group. The Group remains under that name to this day. Although for the sake of brevity, it's usually called "People's" or "EPP-ED".

Socialists

In Western Europe, socialist/social democratic parties have been the dominant centre-left force since the dawn of modern European cooperation. The Socialist Group was one of the first Groups to be founded when it was created on 23 June 1953[33] in the European Parliament's predecessor, the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community, and continued through the creation of the appointed Parliament in 1958 and the elected Parliament in 1979. Meanwhile, the national parties making up the Group were also organising themselves on a European level outside the Parliament, with the parties creating the "Confederation of Socialist Parties of the European Community" in 1974[24][34][35] and its successor, the "Party of European Socialists", in 1992.[34][35] As a result, the Group (which had kept its "Socialist Group" name all along) was renamed to the "Group of the Party of European Socialists" on 21 April 1993[33] and it became difficult to distinguish between PES (the group) and PES (the party). The Group reverted to (approximately) its former name of the "Socialist Group in the European Parliament"[29] on 20 July 2004[33] and was given a different logo, making it easier to distinguish the Group from the party. Despite all this, the Group is still universally referred to as "PES", notwithstanding the 2009 name change.

Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament

23 June 2009

present

Liberals/centrists

In European politics, liberalism tends to be associated with classical liberalism, which advocates limited government intervention in society in general. However, the Liberal Group contains diverse parties. It has also been home to parties such as the GaullistUnion for the New Republic and the centre-right Portuguese Social-Democrats that were not explicitly liberal, but who were not aligned with either the Socialist or the Christian Democratic Groups. The Liberal Group was founded on 23 June 1953[39] under the name of the "Group of Liberals and Allies".[39] As the Parliament grew, it changed its name to the "Liberal and Democratic Group"[24][39] (1976[39]), then to the "Liberal and Democratic Reformist Group"[40] (13 December 1985[39]), then to the "Group of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party"[24][26][39] (19 July 1994[39]) before settling on its present name of the "Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe"[39] on 20 July 2004,[39] when the Group was joined by the centrist and social-liberal parties that formed the European Democratic Party.

Greens/regionalists

In European politics, there has been a coalition between the Greens and the stateless nationalists or regionalists (who also support devolution). In 1984[44] Greens and regionalists gathered into the "Rainbow Group",[21] a coalition of Greens, regionalists and other parties of the left unaffiliated with any of the international organizations. In 1989[21][44] Rainbow split. The Greens went off to form the "Green Group", whilst the regionalists stayed in Rainbow. Rainbow collapsed in 1994[44] and its members joined the "European Radical Alliance" under the centre-left French Left Radical Party. The Greens and regionalists stayed separate until 1999,[24][44] when they reunited under the "Greens/European Free Alliance"[24][29] banner.

Rainbow Group: Federation of the Green Alternative European Left, Agalev-Ecolo, the Danish People's Movement against Membership of the European Community and the European Free Alliance in the European Parliament[45][54]

Communists

The first communist group in the European Parliament was the "Communist and Allies Group"[21] founded on 16 October 1973.[58] It stayed together until 25 July 1989[58] when it split into two groups, the "Left Unity" Group[21] with 14[21] members and the "Group of the European United Left"[58] (EUL) with 28[21] members. EUL collapsed in January 1993[59] after the Italian Communist Party changed its name to Democratic Party of the Left and its MEPs joined the Socialist Group, leaving Left Unity as the only leftist group before the 1994 elections.[59] The name was resurrected immediately after the elections when the "Confederal Group of the European United Left"[58] was formed on 19 July 1994.[58] On 6 January 1995,[58] when parties from Sweden and Finland joined, the Group was further renamed to the "Confederal Group of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left" and it has stayed that way to the present.

Nationalists

In European politics, a grouping of nationalist has thus far found it difficult to cohere in a continuous Group. The first nationalist Group was founded by the French National Front and the Italian Social Movement in 1984[21][64] under the name of the "Group of the European Right",[21][64] and it lasted until 1989.[64][65] Its successor, the "Technical Group of the European Right",[64][66] existed from 1989[64] to 1994.[64] There was then a gap of thirteen years until "Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty"[67] was founded on 15 January 2007,[67] which lasted for nearly eleven months until it fell apart on 14 November 2007 due to in-fighting.[68]

In January 2008, leaders of nationalist parties across four countries announced another attempt at a pan-European nationalist European political party, provisionally called the "European Patriotic Party".[69][70] Should they be successful and elect sufficient MEPs under that banner, then another nationalist Group may be formed.

In October 2009, a loose grouping of nationalists under the label "Alliance of European Nationalist Movements" was confirmed with membership including Hungary's Jobbik, and the United Kingdom's British National Party .[71] Under the group membership rules in place at the European Parliament the AENM has no formal status.

Eurosceptics

The specifically European school of political thought that states that the competences of the European Union should be reduced or prevented from expanding further, is represented in the European Parliament by the eurosceptics. The first Eurosceptic group in the European Parliament was founded on 19 July 1994.[74] It was called the "European Nations Group"[74] and it lasted until 10 November 1996.[74] Its successor was the "Group of Independents for a Europe of Nations",[26][75] founded on 20 December 1996.[74] Following the 1999 election, the Group was reorganised into the "Group for a Europe of Democracies and Diversities"[24][29] on 20 July 1999,[74] and similarly reorganised after the 2004 election into the "Independence/Democracy Group"[76] on 20 July 2004.[74] The IND/DEM Group comprises 22 Members coming from 9 different countries, as follows: Czech Republic (1), Denmark (1), Greece (1) , France (3), Ireland (1), The Netherlands (2), Sweden (2), UK (8), Poland (3). The group's leaders are Nigel Farage (United Kingdom Independence Party) and Kathy Sinnott (Independent, Ireland)

Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group in the European Parliament (TBD)

1 July 2009

present

Heterogeneous

A Group is assumed to have a set of core principles ("affinities" or "complexion") to which the full members are expected to adhere. This throws up an anomaly: Groups get money and seats on Committees which Independent members do not get, but the total amount of Independent members may be greater than the members of the smaller Groups. In 1979, MEPs got round this by forming a Technical Group (formally called the "Group for the Technical Coordination and Defence of Independent Groups and Members",[79] or "CDI"[41] for short) as a coalition of parties ranging from centre-left to far left, which were not aligned with any of the major international organizations.[80] CDI lasted until 1984.[44] On 20 July 1999,[81] another Technical Group was formed, (formally called the "Technical Group of Independent Members – mixed group"[82] or "TGI"[30][81] for short). Since it contained far-right MEPs and centre-left MEPs, it could not possibly be depicted as having a common outlook. The Committee on Constitutional Affairs ruled[83] that TGI did not have a coherent political complexion, Parliament upheld (412 to 56 with 36 abstentions) the ruling,[84] and TGI was thus disbanded on 13 September 1999,[84] the first Group to be forcibly dissolved. However, the ruling was appealed to the European Court of First Instance[84] and the Group was temporarily resurrected on 1 December 1999[85] until the Court came to a decision.[85] On 3 October 2001, President Fontaine announced that the Court of First Instance had declared against the appeal[86] and that the disbandment was back in effect from 2 October 2001, the date of the declaration.[87] TGI appeared on the list of Political Groups in the European Parliament for the last time on 4 October 2001.[88] Since then the requirement that Groups have a coherent political complexion has been enforced (as ITS later found out), and "mixed" Groups are not expected to appear again.

Independents

Independent MEPs that are not in a Group are categorised as "Non-Inscrits" (the French term is universally used, even in English translations). This null-Group has no Group privileges or funding, and is included here solely for completeness.

^ abcd "European Union: Power and Policy-Making" second edition, ISBN 0415221641 Published 2001 by Routledge, edited by Jeremy John Richardson, Chapter 6 "Parliaments and policy-making in the European Union", esp. page 125, "Table 6.2 Party Groups in the European Parliament, 1979-2000"